A Texas-based company, American Rounds, has sparked significant controversy by installing automated bullets and ammunition vending machines in select grocery stores across three Southern states, with plans to expand further in the coming months. This move has drawn strong opposition from gun control advocates and groups like Everytown for Gun Safety.
According to the Associated Press, American Rounds CEO Grant Magers stated that grocery stores and other retailers approached the company in 2023 about the prospect of selling ammunition using automated technology. Currently, the company has one machine in Alabama, four in Oklahoma, and one in Texas, with additional machines planned for Texas and Colorado.
Despite the machines’ use of facial detection and identification scanner technology for a supposedly more secure purchase environment, critics worry about the broader implications in a country that experiences mass shootings at an alarming rate. Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, emphasized the dangers, saying, “Innovations that make ammunition sales more secure via facial recognition, age verification, and the tracking of serial sales are promising safety measures that belong in gun stores, not in the place where you buy your kid’s milk. In a country awash in guns and ammo, where guns are the leading cause of deaths for kids, we don’t need to further normalize the sale and promotion of these products.”
Currently, the vending machines are located in small towns where access to ammunition retailers is limited. Magers explained, “Someone in that community might have to drive an hour or an hour and a half to get supplied if they want to go hunting, for instance. Our grocery stores wanted to offer their customers another category that they felt would be popular.”
However, the installation of these machines has faced pushback. According to Inc, a machine in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was removed after city council members expressed concerns at a July 2 meeting. Councilman Kip Tyner recalled, “I got some calls about ammunition being sold in grocery stores, vending machines. I thought it was a lie. I thought it was a joke—but it’s not.”
While Fresh Value officially removed the machine due to a lack of sales, the legality of these vending machines remains a point of contention. They can operate as long as they comply with local zoning laws governing ammunition sales. The presence of these machines in grocery stores highlights the ongoing and heated debate over gun control and safety measures in the United States.